SPORT 26 THE WEEKEND NEOS KOSMOS | SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER 2015 FFV launches new Networking and stakeholder membership key to local football growth in the state JOHN PYRROS Football Federation Victoria (FFV) last week launched a new business network initiative it hopes will continue the growth of football in the state. 'Community in Business' was borne out of research undertaken by the FFV at the conclusion of 2014, which found in the order of 2,000 businesses were investing in the local game and greater contributions could be made if organisations had a network to interact with one another. Filopoulos, Fairfax journalist Michael Lynch and Fox Sports commentator Andy Harper formed part of a discussion panel deliberating on aspects of the local and national game. FFV laid out 10 key objec- The exclusive launch - attended by Neos Kosmos - outlined a plan to pool together key stakeholders in Victorian football through a series of social engagements, including member luncheons. It anticipates the model will ensure financial sustainability in what it expects will attract greater numbers of stakeholders. Keynote speakers included Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou and former Socceroo Josip Skoko, while FFV president Kimon Taliadoros, Perth Glory CEO Peter tives it hopes to achieve through its Community in Business initiative, including developing business and governmental relations, uniting local clubs, promoting success stories and assisting the underprivileged involved in the game - with a full list available on its website. Asian Cup-winning coach Postecoglou, a protégé of the Victorian game through his playing and coaching days with South Melbourne, praised the venture as pioneering. "I think an initiative such DIGITAL.NEOSKOSMOS.COM community business model as this will help because it brings people together who had that passion for a game, and when you bring people together great ideas sprout from it and people get energised by it and you move forward," he said. Taliadoros took the opportunity to acknowledge the vast contributions already being made by those involved with football in the state. "Today I look out at the room and I see like-minded people, united by this passion. In fact there are over 2,000 businesses as well, large and small, that invest commercially in Victorian football, many and mainly through our club sponsorship programs," he said. Four Community in Business luncheons are scheduled for 2016. Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou with John Pyrros of Neos Kosmos. Teenage champ makes national team debut in European Taekwondo Championships GEORGE STOGIANNOU You might expect to find most teenage girls hanging out with their group of friends in their spare time. But for Anastasia Galazoula, she often spends her free time practicing kicking techniques at home or running on the slopes of the Imittos mountain range of Athens. Such is her devotion to the sport of taekwondo, which she says has become part of her nature. When she first took up taekwondo at the tender age of seven, she could barely have dreamt that one day she would represent her country as an elite sportswoman. Last weekend she made her debut for the Greek national taekwondo team by competing in the European U21 Championships in Bucharest, Romania. The 17-year-old high school student finished fifth in the Under 57kg category, losing to the eventual winner of the title. the faint-hearted. "It's a tough sport and requires great stamina,” she says. “Luckily I have not had any serious injuries apart from sprained ankles, fingers and toes, pulled muscles and the occasional swollen eye." "I'm proud of her because in spite of difficulties, she didn't and doesn't give up,” says her mother Kelly Charitidis-Galazoula. Anastasia Galazoula and her coach Kon Kapanis. Galazoula qualified for a place on the national team after winning the Greek national U21 title in October, a goal that she and her new coach Kon Kapanis set themselves at the start of 2015. She says she enjoyed the ex- perience of her first international tournament. "Being part of the Greek team, training with the rest of Greece's best, travelling together as Greece's representation was an incredible sensation. I was so proud to be a part of all this. The feelings were even stronger when students from a Romanian Greek school arrived at the stadium to support us. We must have been the loudest cheering squad by far." Her chosen sport is not for “Luckily her friends who have known her since kindergarten are extremely supportive. It isn't easy being an athlete/teenager - having to keep to a strict diet, not going out with the gang whenever they do, choosing to say no when others would say yes. This shows her strength of character, her commitment and devotion to the sport she has chosen. She is also lucky to have the support of her fellow athletes at the Kapanis School. Moral support is essential in this individual sport. These athletes have become her second family." Like most elite athletes she combines excellent physical condition with mental strength. Galazoula trains five times a week with her coach as well as spending extra hours practicing to improve her kicking techniques and her stamina. Somehow she also finds time to fit in her studies. Of her future plans she says: "So far as sport goes, my plans are to continuously improve my techniques in order to become a better athlete and participate in international tournaments, with the aim of maybe one day representing Greece at the Olympic Games. “This is of course every athlete's dream. As far as studies go, I hope to study physical education and sports science and perhaps one day become a coach myself." Two of her biggest fans are her grandparents Anastasia and Spiros Charitidis, who live in Melbourne and follow her progress with keen interest and great pride.